12 Weeks Old - The happiest baby around

Benjamin is a very happy boy. Always full of smiles. He is also starting to talk and squeal more. He finds life to be VERY exciting! He started grasping a teething ring this week, just to keep his hands and mouth busy. He is not teething or anything, but it is a really nice soft jelly ring that his Aunt Cortni gave to him and he does enjoy mouthing it. He pushes it up to his mouth mostly with his arms still though. He is not quite coordinated with his hands.
I spent the last Friday of my maternity leave cleaning up the house and doing tasks I have been meaning to do for 12 weeks. (Where did the time go?!!!) One of them was cleaning up poor Teddy Bear. I decided to shave him and used his favorite treat (Pounce) to keep him interested. This is how far I got before the claws came out.
This week, Paul and I helped build Wildcat Playground at Wilson School in NW Corvallis. The old playground was an amazing huge wood structure that kids could play on for hours and still discover new places. One day someone decided it just wasn't safe anymore and the kids could get splinters and *POOF* it was gone. It took the community by complete surprise. The community came together and formed a commitee to take on the task of raising money ($160K) for a new playground. The company they hired to design it actually sent their architect to the school and sat with kids on their lunch and they helped give input and design the new park. The community raised the money over the last year and built the new park in 5 days. I spent Saturday and Sunday there with Benjamin in the childcare center, since they wouldn't let me leave him alone there since he is so young. Paul came out on Sunday and put in a hard days work before our softball game. It feels so good to be a part of something that can benefit so many people.

Our first co-ed softball game was alright, but we lost in the bottom of the 7th. I hit horribly but Paul did alright. Oh well. Next game. Communication can only get better!

The biggest change is that I started back to work this week. It was hard leaving The Man. The hardest part about being back was having people ask over and over again about it. They care and I care about them, but it was hard to keep thinking of him. The transition was good though. He stayed home with Paul on Monday and I joined them for lunch and then returned to work. On Tuesday, he stayed with my friend Abby Bain, who is a doula and childcare provider. (KinderCare won't be ready for him until next week.) They had a blast! He napped well for her (still don't understand why he won't for me!) and played with her 9 month old, Betsy, who was just fascinated with him. Abby was so nice and sent me a few pictures throughout the day with messages like "Hi Mommy!". It was really nice of her. She understood how tough it is to leave your little one! I was able to pick him up and take him to our last Live and Learn with Your Baby class and say goodbye to all the friends we have made there. One of the ladies graciously started a Yahoo group, so we can keep in touch and possible still have play dates over the summer. Here are our quick attempts at a group picture....
Wednesday, I was off work and so took The Man and met our usual Thursday playgroup (moved to Wednesdays just for us!) at the Le Leche League meeting. It was an unusually large showing there and lots of neat topics came up. Next Wednesday, Benjamin and I are planning on going to Infant Story Time at the library and will meet with our playgroup after that.
Thursday, The Man went back to Abby's for another fun day. Paul was able to stop by and visit, but Benjamin was napping so he just watched him for a few minutes. Abs and I both thought that was adorable! When I picked him up that day, he puked all over me and then when I was carrying him to the car I twisted my ankle and went down. I was so embarrassed! And we were on our way to the annual College of Engineering picnic! I called Paul to bring me new clothes (going to have to start keeping a set in the car!) and then we went to show him off. We had a good time. He got a neat t-shirt that will fit him in about 3 years!

So that is about it. Not a lot of pictures this week, sorry. Love to you all!